


Underwater

by longleggedgit



Category: Kuragehime | Princess Jellyfish
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-08
Updated: 2011-07-08
Packaged: 2017-10-21 03:39:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/220510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longleggedgit/pseuds/longleggedgit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuranosuke introduces Tsukimi to his new girlfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Underwater

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Ed's birthday, 2011! This does not contain any spoilers past the first episode of the anime. This is not a songfic, but I was listening to Underwater by Tegan & Sara when I wrote it.

The day Kuranosuke introduces Tsukimi to his new girlfriend is the day Tsukimi goes to the Sunshine Aquarium and sits in the same place, on a bench in front of the jellyfish, for three and a half hours. It's the first time she's ever been there so long without drawing anything, and toward the end her right hand flexes and unflexes without her telling it to. They turn the lights out without realizing there's a customer still inside, and the security guard seems more confused than Tsukimi when he finds her sitting there after closing time, maybe because being overlooked in a beautiful environment is a sensation Tsukimi's gotten used to in Tokyo.

"Are you all right, Miss?" the guard asks.

Tsukimi isn't sure how to answer that question, so she only says, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience," and hurries home.

 

She wakes up, with no recollection of having fallen asleep, at two-ten a.m., because her mouth is dry and her head hurts and she's struggling to slowly drag herself out of a dream. It's foggy and perplexing but overall mostly nice; she can't quite visualize the details but still knows the dream was a good one, something she doesn't want to let slip through her fingers, like it seems everything has been doing lately. This thought has only just occurred to her when she realizes she must still be dreaming after all, because Kuranosuke is there, kneeling next to her bed, so radiant in some white slip of a dress that it can't be real; even Kuranosuke could never look this beautiful.

Tsukimi turns in bed so she's facing him fully and blinks heavy-lidded eyes. "Why are you here?" she whispers.

"Because you're an idiot," Kuranosuke says, frowning. His skin looks extra pale in the bare light from the window, and Tsukimi has to resist the urge to reach out and touch it; then, remembering this is a dream, she decides to do it after all. Kuranosuke starts when her fingers brush against his cheek but doesn't move away, even if his skin does make a swift transition from pale to flushed.

"Stop that," he says after a moment, and Tsukimi does, dropping her hand so it dangles over the edge of the bed, between them.

"Why?" she asks. She wishes she had some control over the direction this dream is headed, but it seems that whether in reality or in fantasy, Kuranosuke has complete control over every situation, and especially over her.

"You're not supposed to just let us walk away," Kuranosuke snaps, confusing Tsukimi a little because she can't figure out the context at first. "You're supposed to chase after me. You're supposed to tell me I'm making a terrible mistake."

Tsukimi is starting to feel more awake, suddenly, her mind operating much more clearly. "Oh," she says after a beat. Then, "That girl—"

"She's just a model I know," he says, and he shifts and leans in closer, his breath ghosting across Tsukimi's chin. "I asked her for a favor."

When he kisses her, Tsukimi thinks it's just like the ocean. At first she can hardly stand the feeling of it, it's so swift and overwhelming, but then all of a sudden her head is underwater and the shock has faded, the cold replaced with perfect clarity, and she knows she never wants to leave.


End file.
